How to Downgrade From iOS 9.2 to iOS 9.1 on iPhone or iPad

As you might all know, iOS 9.2 is now out for iPhone and iPad owners. Although iOS 9.2 introduced no new features and significant changes, it featured a long list of improvements and bug fixes. If for some reason iOS 9.2 doesn’t play well with your device, you still have the option of downgrading to iOS 9.1. Below is a guide on how to downgrade iOS 9.2 to iOS 9.1 on iPhone and iPad.

Before you proceed:

Before downgrading your iPhone or iPad, make sure that you backup your device through iTunes. Downgrading will completely wipe off your device, so it’s a best practice to perform a backup.

As of this writing, Apple is still signing iOS 9.1 so you can still downgrade from iOS 9.2. However, that could change anytime once Apple stops signing the firmware.

How to Downgrade from iOS 9.2 to iOS 9.1:

Download the appropriate iOS 9.1 IPSW for your device from this website. Check the Apple Signing Status, if it’s still checked in green, then you are good to go. This means that Apple is still signing iOS 9.1.

Connect your iPhone or iPad to a computer via USB and launch iTunes.

Go to your device’s summary page by clicking the iPhone or iPad icon located at the upper-left corner of the interface.

You should see the button Restore iPhone. Hold the Alt / Option (Mac) or Shift (Windows) key and click the Restore iPhone button. At this point, you should make sure that Find My iPhone is disabled on your device.

A file explorer window will appear after you click the button. Browse the IPSW file that you have downloaded in step 1. Open the file and iTunes will proceed to downgrade your iPhone or iPad to iOS 9.1. This should take about 10 to 20 minutes.

After the process is complete, iTunes will ask you to setup your device. Choose the option to restore to a backup to get back all your apps and settings before the downgrade.

That’s it! Again, if you wish to downgrade, you better do it quick since Apple could pull the plug on that iOS 9.1 signing window anytime soon.